-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- As someone who has had the great honor of commanding four different ships for the United States Coast Guard , I have watched the news about the Costa Concordia -- the grounding of the vessel and the resulting death of at least 11 people -- from the perspective of a seagoing captain .

We must all await the findings of a proper investigation , but for anyone remotely familiar with a captain 's awesome responsibilities for the lives of his passengers and crew , the reported behavior of the Concordia 's skipper , Francesco Schettino , is almost unfathomable .

The captain of a ship at sea is one of the last bastions of total authority in this world . The ocean is a dangerous place , where life and death decisions often need to be made in an instant . For this reason , a sea captain is granted complete independence , power , and control aboard his vessel .

But with that absolute authority comes absolute responsibility . In the case of a cruise ship , thousands of passengers have come aboard with the expectation that they are in the hands of a competent crew headed by a competent captain . They are depending on his professionalism , skill and dedication to his one and only mission : to navigate his vessel safely and prudently from point A to point B.

To meet that mission , a modern sea captain is provided with all kinds of resources . He is given extraordinary training for the challenges of the waters he is in and the vessel he is commanding . He is given extraordinary electronic gadgetry that allows him to fix his position on the globe within inches . He receives all sorts of input information -- weather reports , charts detailing virtually every hazard in his area of operation , and detailed information on pathways to take and pathways to avoid -- all of which arm him to make good judgments as to where he is going .

The captain of the Costa Concordia had all these resources at his disposal , and yet audio recordings and other accounts appear to show him violating every commonly accepted notion of how a captain will behave in a crisis .

First , he came in close to the island in spite of the obvious navigational challenges that meant in terms of safe passage . It is a captain 's responsibility to err on the side of safety . When I commanded Coast Guard cutters undertaking hazardous military missions , I invariably chose the safer path whenever I had the opportunity to do so . The captain of a cruise ship , whose sole mission is the safe transport of your passengers , has no excuse to choose anything but the safest path .

Second , the chaos that followed the grounding of the ship appears to reflect the captain 's lack of leadership aboard his vessel . By all accounts he failed to institute a command structure in which his crew was prepared to do their duty to organize the passengers for a safe embarkation from a sinking platform -- and as a result , 11 people are dead and more than 20 others are still missing .

Third , his personal decision to leave the vessel before his passengers had safely embarked from the ship shows a flagrant disrespect for his ultimate responsibilities as a sea captain . A captain does not necessarily have to go down with his ship , but under no circumstances does he leave his ship to save himself before he has saved those whose lives are in his hands .

Given these serial failures of responsibility , the one blessing is that the accident occurred so close to shore , which allowed so many of the passengers to reach safety on their own . One can only imagine how many might have perished had the ship run into trouble at sea with this particular captain and crew .

There will be an investigation in the aftermath . But even before it gets under way , one thing is clear : the training and promotion process that put a man like this in command of a passenger ship missed the character flaw that allowed him to jeopardize his vessel for some apparently transient and empty purpose . That promotion system is in need of serious repair .

When I first heard about the Costa Concordia , I thought back to the guidance that Alexander Hamilton provided in 1790 to the captains of the first 10 cutters of the U.S. Revenue Marine -- the precursor to the Coast Guard . Hamilton advised that they had been `` selected with careful attention to character '' and told them to `` Refrain from haughtiness , rudeness , or insult '' and to `` Endeavor to overcome difficulties by a cool and temperate perseverance in your duty . '' He declared that a captain 's demeanor and behavior must `` be marked with prudence , moderation , and good temper . Upon these qualities must depend the success , usefulness and ... continuance of the establishment in which they are included . ''

An off duty captain , Roberto Bosio , happened to be on board the Costa Concordia when it ran aground and swung into action , helping dozens of women and children into lifeboats . He has been called a hero in the Italian press , but rejects the moniker . `` Do n't call me a hero . I just did my duty , the duty of a sea captain , '' he said . Captain Bosio met Alexander Hamilton 's charge . Captain Schettino failed to do so in every imaginable way .

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of James Loy .

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James Loy , retired admiral , says the reported behavior of Costa captain is unfathomable

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He says ship captains have huge authority , responsibility , training to make good decisions

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He says Costa captain made series of indefensible decisions , including abandoning ship

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Loy : Promotion system that put someone with poor judgment at helm needs repair